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As contract negotiations intensify for some 40,000 Verizon workers whose contracts expired on August 1, the telecom giant has released a new app that allows non-union members to document and report union activity to management.

Verizon told RCR Wireless News, which broke the story days before the union contract expired, that the app was intended to give all employees an avenue to report "unsafe situation, unlawful act, or violation of our code of conduct" to management. However, Verizon also acknowledged that the app had been designed specifically for the 18,000 or so people who have been trained to work customer service should a strike occur and that the app will not be used after contract negotiations are resolved.

Bob Master, political and legislative director of Communications Workers of America District 1, told The Verge: "It’s no surprise that they are intimidating workers by encouraging managers to take photos of union members as they are lawfully picketing and protesting."